Weather strip

ABSTRACT

A weather strip mounted in a door open edge of a vehicle body has a hollow sealing portion  16,  the section of which is roughly U-shaped, consisting of the second hollow portion protruding from the, side of the attaching portion  13  attached by being inserted into the flange  5  of the door open edge  2,  and the first hollow portion  15  protruding from the corresponding hollow portion  14,  wherein the hollow sealing portion  16  has the outer side at the side having a portion, with which the door  1  is brought into contact, made into a smoothly continuously curved surface at the first and second hollow portions  14  and  15  without any discontinuous points, and when the door is closed, the door front edge pushes to collapses the entire hollowing sealing portion  16  without being pushed down while sliding on the smoothly curved surface, and the door can be closed without requiring any large force with the deformation of the hollow sealing portion reduced, thereby improving closure of the door.

The present invention relates to a weather strip embedded in an openedge of a door section of a vehicle body, and in particular a weatherstrip which is embedded in a door open edge of a vehicle body providedwith a slide type door or a hinge-type door and is provided with anattaching portion attached to the corresponding open edge and a hollowsealing portion shaped so that a first hollow portion and a secondhollow portion are consecutively secured in the corresponding attachingportion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a vehicle in which its rear door is made into a slide door1, and FIG. 2 shows a section of a weather strip, which is taken alongthe line A-A, attached to a door open edge 2 of the slide door 1. Thistype of weather strip is disclosed in Japanese Published UnexaminedPatent Application No. 2001-260768, and the weather strip is composed ofa solid rubber made attaching portion 6 which is provided with a coremetal 3 embedded therein with its section roughly U-shaped, inwardlyprotruding retaining lips 4 a and 4 b opposed to each other inside theU-shaped core metal 3, and attached by being inserted into a flange 5 ofthe door open edge 2, and a sponge-rubber made hollow sealing portion 9which is shaped so that the first hollow portion 7 and the second hollowportion 8 are consecutively secured on the side of the correspondingattaching portion 6.

When the slide door 1 shown in FIG. 1 is closed, the front edge of theslide door 1 is brought into contact with the first hollow portion 7,and sealing between the door 1 and the vehicle body is secured with thehollow sealing portion 9 collapsed. However, the front edge of the slidedoor 1 is brought into the root of the first hollow portion 7 due tounevenness of door fitting as shown in FIG. 3, and the entire hollowsealing portion is pushed down in the direction of the arrow in thedrawing, thereby causing abnormal deflection, wherein there arises aproblem in that a load for closing the door is radically increased andthe door fitting is worsened.

Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a weather stripwhich can solve the above-described problem with such a type as shown inFIG. 2 and improve the door fitting when it is closed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A weather strip according to the present invention is provided with anattaching portion embedded in a flange of a door opening portion of avehicle and a hollow sealing portion shaped so that the first and secondhollow portions are consecutively secured therein. The second hollowportion is composed of the first wall diagonally protruding from theflange root side of the attaching portion toward the outside of thevehicle in the reverse direction of the flange tip end, the second walldiagonally protruding from the first wall to the flange tip end outsidethe vehicle via the first bending point, the third wall diagonallyprotruding from the flange tip end side of the above-described attachingportion toward the outside of the vehicle in the reverse direction ofthe flange root side, the fourth wall diagonally protruding from thethird wall toward the flange root side outside of the vehicle via thesecond bending point, and the fifth wall connecting the second wall tothe fourth wall. The first hollow portion has one end thereof connectedto the linkage part between the second wail and the fifth wall and theother end thereof connected to the linkage part between the fourth walland the fifth wall. The side surface at the side having a portion, whichis brought into contact with a door when the door is closed, of theabove-described hollow sealing portion consisting of the first andsecond hollow portions is made into a smoothly continuous curved surfacenot having any discontinuous points.

According to the weather strip of the present invention, since the sidewith which the hollow sealing portion is brought into contact is madeinto a smoothly continuous curved surface, regardless of any positionwith which the door is brought into contact when the door is closed, inany door of not only a slide type but also a hinge type, the door slideson the curved surface without pushing down the entire hollow sealingportion, and pushes and collapses the hollow sealing portion whilebending the same at the first and second bending points.

Therefore, such a great load is not required, by which abnormaldeflection which pushes and collapses, as in the above-described priorart, the entire hollow sealing portion by a door being brought intocontact with the root portion of the first hollow portion 5 a when thedoor is closed, thereby preventing the door closing from being worsened.

In a weather strip according to another aspect of the invention, anotched portion or recessed portion is formed inside the second bendingpoint.

According to the weather strip of the invention, the weather strip iseasily bent at the first and second bending points, and the hollowsealing portion becomes easy to be collapsed, wherein the door closingor fitting can be improved.

In a weather strip according to still another aspect of the invention,the above-described third wall is formed so as to have higher rigiditythan that of the fourth wall.

According to the weather strip of the invention, since it is furthersecurely bent at the second bending point, the door closing can be stillfurther improved.

In a weather strip according to still another aspect of the invention,the length of the fifth wall is made shorter than that of the secondwall.

According to the weather strip of the invention, it becomes furthersecure to push and collapse the entire hollow sealing portion.

In a weather strip according to still another aspect of the invention,when a door closed and is brought into contact with the weather strip,the second hollow portion is collapsed so that the linkage point betweenthe second wall and the fifth wall is caused to move inwardly of thesecond hollow portion.

Other features and effects of the present invention will be more clearlyunderstood in the following detailed description of the embodiments bythose skilled in the art. It must be, however, noted that the technicalscope of the invention is not limited to the embodiments and theaccompanying drawings alone.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a vehicle in which its rear door ismade into a slide door;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a prior art weather strip, which is takenalong the line A-A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a weather strip shown in FIG. 2 when thedoor is closed;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a weather strip according to theinvention, which is taken along the line A-A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a weather strip shown in FIG. 4 when thedoor is closed;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of another weather strip according to theinvention, which is taken along the line A-A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of still another weather strip according tothe invention, which is taken along the line A-A in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of a vehicle in which both front doorsand rear doors are made into hinge-type doors.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a weather strip 11, which is takenalong the line A-A of the weather strip mounted at a door open edge 2 ofa vehicle shown in FIG. 1, as in a weather strip shown in FIG. 2. Theweather strip shown in FIG. 4 is provided with an attaching portion 6,attached by being inserted into a flange 5 of the door open edge 2, inwhich a core metal 3 is embedded with its section roughly U-shaped,inwardly protruding retaining lips 4 a and 4 b are opposed to each otherinside the U-shaped core metal 3, and a hollow sealing portion 16 whichis composed of the second hollow portion 14 protruding from the sideface of the attaching portion 6 toward the outside of a vehicle, and thefirst hollow portion 15 secured consecutively in parallel to thecorresponding hollow portion 14. The second hollow portion 14 iscomposed of the first wall 14 a slightly-diagonally protruding from theflange root side of the attaching portion 13 toward the outside of thevehicle in the reverse direction of the flange tip end, the second wall14 c diagonally protruding from the first wall 14 a to the flange tipend outside the vehicle via the first bending point 14 b, the third wall14 d diagonally protruding from the flange tip end side of the attachingportion 13 toward the outside of the vehicle in the reverse direction ofthe flange root side, the fourth wall 14 f diagonally protruding fromthe third wall 14 d toward the flange root side outside of the vehiclevia the second bending point 14 e, and the fifth wall 14 g connectingthe second wall 14 c to the fourth wall 14 f, which is formed to beshorter than the length of the second wall 14 c, and the first andsecond bending points 14 b and 14 e are made thinner by the recesses 17and 18 formed inwardly thereof. Also, the distance from the secondbending point 14 e to the flange 5 is longer than the distance from thefirst bending point 14 b to the flange 3. Therefore, the hollow sealingportion 16 pushed and collapsed by the door front edge when the door 1is closed can further securely bring about a deflection profile asdesired.

In a secure deflection profile as desired when the door 1 is closed, theabove-described fifth wall 14 g is made roughly parallel to the flangeface, the flange root side is inclined so as to be drawn near theflange, or in an illustrated example, the first wall 14 a and the thirdwall 14 d of the hollow sealing portion 16 whose entirety is composed ofa sponge material such as sponge rubber may be formed of a solidmaterial such as solid rubber and a thermoplastic elastomer having highrigidity, and it is recommended that the linkage part 14 i between thefourth wall 14 f and the fifth wall 14 g is formed so as to becomethicker at the inside thereof. Therefore, the rigidity of the linkagepart 14 i can be increased, and when the door is closed, smooth curvingcan be made easier at the second bending point 14 e.

The first hollow portion 15 has one end thereof connected to the linkagepart 14 h between the second wall 14 c and the fifth wall 14 g and theother end thereof connected to the linkage part 14 i between the fourthwall 14 f and the fifth wall 14 g. And, at the hollow sealing portion16, the outer side at the side with which the door front edge can bebrought into contact when the door is closed is made into a smoothlycontinuous curved surface without having any discontinuous points alongthe outer surface of the fourth wall 14 f and at the boundary betweenthe first and second hollow portions 14 and 15.

FIG. 5 shows a pattern taken when the hollow sealing portion 16 of theweather strip 11 is deformed by the door front edge when the slide door1 moves in the direction of the arrow and is closed, wherein when thedoor 1 is closed, the door front edge slides on the curved surface ofthe first hollow portion 15 and pushes to collapse the first hollowportion 15, the hollow sealing portion 16 is pushed and collapsed in thedirection of the arrow in the drawing while bending the second hollowportion at the first and second bending points 14 b and 14 e where therecesses 17 and 18 are formed, and when the door is closed with theamount of deformation of the hollowing sealing portion 16 reduced, aload required for deformation of the hollow sealing portion 16 can bedecreased, and the door closing can be improved.

The weather strip 21 shown in FIG. 6 is a modified version of theweather strip 11 shown in FIG. 4. The weather strip 21 is provided withan attaching portion 24, attached by being inserted into the flange 5 ofthe door open edge, in which a core metal 22 whose section is roughlyU-shaped is embedded, retaining lips 23 a, 23 b and 23 c protrudesinwardly thereof so as to be opposed to each other, and a hollow sealingportion 27 composed of the second hollow portion 25 protruding from theside of the attaching portion 24 toward the outside of a vehicle, andthe first hollow portion 26 secured consecutively in parallel to thecorresponding hollow portion 25 thereon. As in the second hollow portion14 of the above-described weather strip 11, in the second hollow portion25, the first wall 25 a at the flange root side is connected to thesecond wall 25 c via the first bending point 25 b, and simultaneously,the third wall 25 d at the flange tip end side is connected to thefourth wall 25 f via the second bending point 25 e. Also, the fifth wall25 g connecting the second wall 25 c to the fourth wall 25 f is roughlyparallel to the flange 5 and is formed so that its length is shorterthan that of the second wall 25 c.

And, the first wall 25 a of the hollow portion 25 and the third wall 25d thereof are formed so as to have higher rigidity than that of theother walls 25 c, 25 f and 25 g in order to make the same hard to bedeflected when the door is closed. In order to secure high rigidity, inthe illustrated example, the first wall 25 a and the third wall 25 d isformed of a material having higher rigidity than that of the other walls25 c, 25 f and 25 g, for example, solid rubber having high hardness anda solid material of a thermoplastic elastomer. However, these portionsmay be made thicker.

Both ends of the first hollow portion 26 are connected to the linkagepart 25 h between the second wall 25 c and the fifth wall 25 g and thelinkage part 25 i between the fourth wall 25 f and the fifth wall 25 g,respectively. The outer side at the side with which the door front edgecan be brought into contact when the door 1 is closed is made into asmoothly continuous curved surface without having any discontinuouspoints along the outer surface of the fourth wall 25 f. And, the secondwall 25 c and the fourth wall 25 f are formed of a sponge material suchas sponge rubber along with the first hollow portion 26, and the firstbending portion 25 b and the second bending portion 25 e are located atthe boundary between solid rubber having high rigidity and sponge rubberhaving low rigidity.

In the weather strip according to the present embodiment, in order thatthe door front edge makes the deflection profile of the weather strip 21as desired when the door 1 is closed, the fifth wall 25 g is formedroughly parallel to the flange. However, in addition thereto, as in thefirst hollow portion 15, it is recommended that the linkage part 25 ibetween the fourth wall 25 f and the fifth wall 25 g is formed to bethicker at its inside.

In the present embodiment, when the slide door 1 is closed, the doorfront edge slides on the curved surface of the first follow portion 26of the weather strip 21 and pushes to collapse the first hollow portion26, and pushes to collapse the hollow sealing portion 27 while bendingthe second hollow portion 25 at the first and second bending points 25 band 25 e, wherein the amount of deformation of the hollow sealingportion 27 is reduced.

The weather strip 31 shown in FIG. 7 has the same structure as that inthe weather strip 21 shown in FIG. 6, excepting that instead of thethird wall 25 d of the weather strip 21 in FIG. 6 being entirelycomposed of a material having high rigidity, only the lower side thereofis composed of a material having high rigidity.

In the weather strips according to the above-described embodiments adescription is given of only the sectional profile of the left side inFIG. 1, that is, the weather strip, with which the front edge of a slideor hinge type door is brought into contact, of the weather stripattached to the door open edge 2. However, it is a matter of course thatthe sectional profile of the other upper side, lower side and right sidecan be made into the same as above.

Also, the weather strip according to the above-described respectiveembodiments is not limited to a type in which a door slides. The weatherstrip may be applicable to a weather strip which is attached to the dooropen edge of a hinge type front door 32 shown in FIG. 1 or may beapplicable to a weather strip which is attached to the door open edge ofthe hinge type front door 33 and rear door 34, shown in FIG. 8. That is,a weather strip used at the section B-B in FIG. 1 and weather stripsused at the sections C-C and D-D in FIG. 8 may be composed as in theweather strip in the above-described embodiments.

1. A weather strip including attaching portions mounted on a flange ofan opening portion for a door of a vehicle, and hollow sealing portionsprotruded from said attaching portions, said hollow sealing portionsincluding first and second hollow portions which are consecutivelyprovided, and wherein: said second hollow portions comprise: first wallsdiagonally protruding from a flange root side of the attaching portionstoward the outside of the vehicle in a reverse direction of a flange tipend, second walls diagonally protruding from the first walls to theflange tip end outside the vehicle via first bending points, third wallsdiagonally protruding from the flange tip end side of said attachingportions toward the outside of the vehicle in a reverse direction of theflange root side, fourth walls diagonally protruding from the thirdwalls toward the flange root side outside of the vehicle via secondbending points, and the fifth walls connecting the second walls to thefourth walls; the first hollow portions have both ends thereof connectedto linkage parts between the second walls and the fifth walls, and tolinkage parts between the fourth walls and the fifth walls,respectively; and the side surfaces at the side having a portion, whichis brought into contact with doors when the doors are closed, of saidhollow sealing portions including the first hollow portions and secondhollow portions are made into a smoothly continuous curved surface nothaving any discontinuous points.
 2. The weather strip according to claim1, wherein said second bending points have notches or recesses formedinwardly thereof.
 3. The weather strip according to claim 1, whereinsaid third walls are formed of a material having a higher rigidity thanthat of the fourth walls.
 4. The weather strip according to claim 1,wherein the length of said fifth walls have a length which is shorterthan that of said second walls.
 5. The weather strip according to claim1, wherein when doors are brought into contact with the weather stripwhen the doors are closed, the second hollow portions are pushed andcollapsed while the linkage parts between the second walls and the fifthwalls are moved inwardly of the second hollow portions.
 6. The weatherstrip according to claim 3, wherein when doors are brought into contactwith the weather strip when the doors are closed, the second hollowportions are pushed and collapsed while the linkage parts between thesecond walls and the fifth walls are moved inwardly of the second hollowportions.
 7. The weather strip according to claim 4, wherein when doorsare brought into contact with the weather strip when the doors areclosed, the second hollow portions are pushed and collapsed while thelinkage parts between the second walls and the fifth walls are movedinwardly of the second hollow portions.
 8. The weather strip accordingto claim 2, wherein said third walls are formed of a material having ahigher rigidity than that of the fourth walls.
 9. The weather stripaccording to claim 8, wherein when doors are brought into contact withthe weather strip when the doors are closed, the second hollow portionsare pushed and collapsed while the linkage parts between the secondwalls and the fifth walls are moved inwardly of the second hollowportions.
 10. The weather strip according to claim 2, wherein the lengthof said fifth walls have a length which is shorter than that of saidsecond walls.
 11. The weather strip according to claim 10, wherein whendoors are brought into contact with the weather strip when the doors areclosed, the second hollow portions are pushed and collapsed while thelinkage parts between the second walls and the fifth walls are movedinwardly of the second hollow portions.
 12. The weather strip accordingto claim 2, wherein when doors are brought into contact with the weatherstrip when the doors are closed, the second hollow portions are pushedand collapsed while the linkage parts between the second walls and thefifth walls are moved inwardly of the second hollow portions.